Ray wrote:The original Blade Runner came out in an era that was saturated with either light-hearted (relatively) fare like (Again) ET, Star Trek 2, Conan the Barbarian, or much more terrible R rated fare (Friday the 13th) but much more accessible to a general audience. Teens who go out to the movie theaters aren't going to go out to go see smart movies they're going to go out to see stuff blow up, or to see their girlfriends scream when they see Jason Voorhees slice someone's head off.

It's weird how you don't even admit that Superman was popular in the exact era that you're citing the rest of your information. But, given your citations, explain to me how those cult-classic Captain America movies made in the early 1990's, the cult classic Disney film The Rescuers, and that Batman movie made in the 1960's suddenly had popular installments made years later. Was it simply because letting people know that products exist goes a long way in making sure that people also buy said products?

I’ll escape now from this world, from the world of Jean Valjean, Jean Valjean is nothing now! Another story must begin!Avatar: "There's a Starman, waiting in the sky. He'd like to come and meet me, but he thinks he'd blow my mind."Phew, I’m not tense anymore… now I’m just miserable.People say "be yourself" but that's bad advice, if we were all to "be ourselves" many of us would stop wearing clothes. -Chuckman

It's weird how you don't even admit that Superman was popular in the exact era that you're citing the rest of your information. But, given your citations, explain to me how those cult-classic Captain America movies made in the early 1990's, the cult classic Disney film The Rescuers, and that Batman movie made in the 1960's suddenly had popular installments made years later.

Rescuers Down Under bombed. Because it was a sequel to a film nobody cared for except die-hards. So that comparison doesn't work. Same for the 90's Captain America movies.

Adam Wests Batman had a whole friggin' TV show and has memetically mutated into THE version of batman that the baby boomers grew up with. It makes sense that would grow up with. On top of that. IT"S BATMAN. Batman defys every trend in every Solo movie he's ever been in, Even Batman & Robin didn't bomb the way we'd like to remember it did. It still made it out. . . okay all things considered.

I’ll escape now from this world, from the world of Jean Valjean, Jean Valjean is nothing now! Another story must begin!Avatar: "There's a Starman, waiting in the sky. He'd like to come and meet me, but he thinks he'd blow my mind."Phew, I’m not tense anymore… now I’m just miserable.People say "be yourself" but that's bad advice, if we were all to "be ourselves" many of us would stop wearing clothes. -Chuckman

Honestly the key reason Blade Runner 2049 disappointed is the budget. There's little to no reason why the movie should have cost $150 million. I felt the marketing campaign was superb - perhaps they went after the wrong crowds because I felt the marketing for the film was ubiquitous & nonstop while I'd never even heard of Happy Death Day until it was in theaters & I'm not some pop culture Luddite - & the original Blade Runner is a film that has an equal present standing in pop culture as say the original Mad Max Trilogy. BUT, smart slow-moving character stories are sadly not the thing that can draw in the crowds needed to support a $150 million budget. Never did, never will. This issue of smart films finding an audience theatrically is multiplied when dealing with international markets & people viewing the film in other languages. People can knock James Cameron for the basic story of AVATAR but he knew what he was trying to do with that film, how much it cost & how elemental he needed that story to be in order to lure audiences to what was essentially an original film*. And it worked to the tune of $3 billion theatrically. Blade Runner 2049 meanwhile, while a more conventional narrative, is still playing in more arthouse sensibilities with character, theme & pacing. That keeps people at bay or at least at home until home video. A weird movie like Blade Runner 2049 might let Joe Average down, while he knows if he goes to see Thor 3: It's Perfectly Fine But Forgettable he will get to see that Thor dude punch a guy in the face with a hammer.

The cinema world was very different when the first Blade Runner came out but heavy thought minded movies have never been the thing of blockbusters. Sure, blockbusters can sneak in intellectually rich themes & concepts - the glorious feminism of Mad Max: Fury Road, the 9/11 allegories of War of the Worlds 2005, almost everything in The Dark Knight but they hide it all with big action set pieces & classic blockbuster tricks.

Either way, Blade Runner 2049 being a money loss in theaters is perfectly in tune with the original. Denis Villeneuve's strong & complimentary (but not surpassing) sequel works great & should inspire a lot of filmmakers & storytellers. It will have a much longer life in the world of storytelling than say Spider-man: Homecoming or Beauty & the Beast 2017. Also on the bright side the financial disappointment of the film protects us from the diminishing quality of a never-ending franchise. No Blade Runner 2051 coming out in two years. I also don't think we'll be seeing Blade Runner 2079 in 30 years.

*Knocking the movie as "Braveheart with Aliens" is a justifiable criticism but you can't undersell how successful the film is when it had no previous presence in pop culture. There were no Avatar Comics that kids grew up on, no books, no nothing. I'm hoping Cameron has plans to deepen the narrative in the sequels now that people know Pandora but even if he doesn't I'm sure the technical filmmaking will make up for the simple stories.

The twist was nice, and well set up, but I felt like it didn't know where to end itself and I didn't really connect with Gosling's character. Also it struck me as odd that the protagonists are omnipotent and omniscient but no when the story demands otherwise. It felt like an overwrought cartoon version of Blade Runner. I don't understand why all these women had to be naked and how it served the narrative or what the film was trying to say. The movie has a madonna/whore complex theme threaded through it but it arises from nothing and goes nowhere. It has no core around which everything is arranged.

Weird, because I loved Arrival. The movie was gorgeous and I look forward to how he does Dune.

the prophecy is trueThe wish for respectability, observed spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti, is the greatest deterrent to selfhood and progress.

...I'm going to stake my claim on this and say that Blade Runner 2049 is probably one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. I adored it, I have not stopped analyzing it, and it will be part of my library very soon.

I would dare say that it even surpassed the original (which I love). Yeah, I said it.

Come at me.

Though, Gob still might look good in a cocktail dress.-Sorrow

Rei wanted to know what waffles tasted like.-Literary Eagle

We have to remember what's important in life: friends, waffles, and work. Or waffles, friends, and work. But work has to come in third.-Leslie Knope

Gob Hobblin wrote:...I'm going to stake my claim on this and say that Blade Runner 2049 is probably one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. I adored it, I have not stopped analyzing it, and it will be part of my library very soon.

I would dare say that it even surpassed the original (which I love). Yeah, I said it.

Come at me.

BR2049 did everything that a good sequel is supposed to do: It expanded the scope of the franchise's universe, explored new and intriguing characters, and had a unique and satisfying story that was worth telling that didn't rip off the plot of the original.

Of the two big sci-fi tentpole releases in 2017, Blade Runner 2049 was WAY better then Star Wars.

Among the people who use the Internet, many are obtuse. Because they are locked in their rooms, they hang on to that vision which is spreading across the world. But this does not go beyond mere ‘data’. Data without analysis [thinking], which makes you think that you know everything. This complacency is nothing but a trap. Moreover, the sense of values that counters this notion is paralyzed by it.

We may never see another Blade Runner movie after the inexplicable under-performance of Denis Villeneuve's 2049, but fans will be able to return to the neon-lit world of dystopian Los Angeles in a new anime series called Black Lotus.

Crunchyroll and Adult Swim are partnering with Alcon Television Group to produce and distribute the show, which is set 2032 - 13 years after the events of Ridley Scott's original. Plot details are still under wraps, but we do know that the series will feature "a few familiar faces" from the Blade Runner universe.

“I first saw ‘Blade Runner’ in 1982, at age 11. It has remained one of the defining films of my life,” said Jason DeMarco, SVP/creative director of Adult Swim on-air. “To be able to explore more of this universe, with the incredible talent we have on board, is a dream come true.”

All 13 30-minute episodes of Blade Runner - Black Lotus will air on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block. No premiere date has been announced.

The 13-episode series is being directed by Shinji Aramaki, who directed the Appleseed films, and Kenji Kamiyama, who directed the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. Additionally, Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe is acting as Black Lotus’ creative producer.

After seeing what they did with Blade Runner 2022 and considering Watanabe's track record, I have absolute faith that this production will be stylish af.(The only time Watanabe really failed was with Terror in Resonance, but even there the directing was tight af, even though the script was terrible)Kenji Kamiyama did a really great job with Gits... and Shinji Aramaki... is ok, I guess?I'm curious.Also, does that mean that Aramaki and Kamiyama are working on Gits:Sac Season 3 and Black Lotus concurrently? Hm....whoops, if I could read, I'd known that the answer was right there in the source I, myself have linked.

Production will reportedly begin once Aramaki and Kamiyama are finished directing their reboot of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series, which was announced in 2017.

Let's just hope we don't have another FLCL Progressive situation on hand.